Eidolon – Apostles of Defiance

I’m going for some sort of record reviewing the fifth Eidolon CD in a row. Having been a fan of the band for so long; I feel I’m almost qualified to comment! I had given their previous works positive reviews but still felt they had not fully reached their potential. Well it finally happened, Eidolon have taken it to the proverbial next level.

I knew they had it in them. I don’t know what it was but after six releases and almost ten years Eidolon have finally hit their stride. This is by far their fastest, heaviest disc of their already extremely impressive catalogue. All the pieces have fallen into place.

Starting from the top; another beautiful package from Metal Blade. Gorgeous cover featuring the evil dude, (who by now must be considered their mascot) with his fourth consecutive appearance on their CD covers. Even though he doesn’t have a name, I call him ‘Razorback’ and he is looking meaner than ever. Great design, layout, full liner notes, lyrics, photos, a bonus video for Coma Nation AND…get this…the entire Zero Hour album as a bonus disc! This is a pretty sweet deal for those unlucky souls who do not own it. I’d like to add the excellent job of packaging the bonus disc with the original cover included, liner notes and lyrics too. Great value.

Musically the band have reached what I always felt they were capable of pushing themselves into the territory of bands like Forte and Imagika (and the new Cage) than push the boundaries of traditional power metal (with the emphasis on power) into the realm of thrash. They even dabble with some death vocals at times for an added dimension of heaviness. The guitar tone is slightly thicker and crunchier, the drums are generally faster and the band has retained their signature style. Pat Mulock has settled in nicely by increasing his vocal range, power, tone and tempo.

Lyrically the band stays within dark realms. No songs about swords of steel for these guys! The Drover’s King Diamond connection comes to the fore with Mr. Andy LaRoque supplying a couple of guests solos as well. Opening with a one-two punch of ‘Scream From Within’ and ‘Volcanic Earth’ the band doesn’t really relent until track six with the catchy and melodious ‘The Will to Remain’ , which sounds like an older song, at least in style. Lyrically it is quite positive and inspirational compared to some of the other tracks. The band wrap up the disc with another epic, ‘Apathy For A Dying World” clocking in at over ten minutes.

Self-produced again with excellent results, I feel this will be the album that gives them the larger scale, global recognition they have long deserved. This band should have been larger long ago and by deciding to take matters into their own hands and crank everything up by a notch, Eidolon have truly become Apostles of Defiance and this is their finest hour. From Zero Hour to finest hour in two short hours, don’t miss this disc!